With quite some effort I got the tire off. I felt inside it and soon felt something pointy. The culprit! It was a bit hard to get out. It turned out to be some metal wire! How did I do that? Or was it me? It had just spent a week in a workshop, and you expect bits of metal wire in there. Maybe this was an unwelcome side effect of the service! Anyway, I managed to pull it out with pliers. Now I needed to just fix the hole and get everything back into place. Easier said than done! Back on is harder than off. I youtubed the trick of pushing the tire to the middle of the rim; that's where the circumference is smallest! And it worked. I pumped it back up. Ready for action!
First time this was needed
The very small culprit
I put the bike upside up, put the light back on, bag on, bag in bag, glasses and helmet on: ready to leave. Within a few meters I noticed it was a bumpy ride. I checked, and indeed, the tire wasn't on evenly. I would have to redo it! Bummer. But I didn't want to do that right then. I had to get to work! So I admitted defeat, went home, parked the bike, took the car to work, and decided to try to fix the bike in the weekend.
When I got around to that I noticed the tire was flat again. Good I chose to drive! I soon found the hole, but I couldn't find the reason for it. That is always asking for trouble; if you can't find it it can strike again. I fixed it and hung the bike back. The next 24 hrs would reveal if this was a botched attempt! And the second time I didn't quite manage to get the tire on evenly either. Oh well. It would have to do! I tried my best and this was what I managed. We'll see! I probably have to buy new tires fairly soon anyway. They get a fair amount of wear and tear!
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